Chapter 95: Into The Belly
Her secrets aren't there to be revealed; if she wants to share them, then I may know; otherwise, I should remain in the dark in regards to her secrets.
Unfortunately, Hildekar was still an outcast in the cohort.
He stood to the side on his own, occasionally glancing at Hilda, and, at times, glancing at Esme, my dear sister-
Damn 'Hildy'.
I won't forgive you for that.
"Tch."
Clicking my tongue with annoyance, Hilda, Esme, and I promptly arrived by the side of the group.
"You done?" Nemora asked.
"Mhm, done. Please attempt to rein it in, Nemora."
"...I'll try." Shaking her head with an icy tone, her green eyes honed in on me nonetheless.
Anyways, with everything said and done, and with quite a lot of dirty laundry aired out, it was about time to get the show on the road.
Holding me at the forefront of the cohort, Nemora stood to the left of Hilda, and Esme stood to our right.
I stared solemnly at the ship in the distance, The Canary.
"Hildekar, take Vanessa and Yulei along with you and search the houses. Take care for any possible traps, and search for any diaries, documents, or objects/accessories that may hold significant meaning. Even scribbles or writings on the wall."
Nemora, the group's leader, quickly issued concise instructions.
"Jill and Elden come with us to the ship; the more combat power, the better for our group. Vanessa can protect Hildekar and Yulei well enough on her own."
"Understood." Elden was solemn, Jill, on the other hand-
"Got it..."
Jill was Jill; what else was there to expect from the man Cursed in quite an unfortunate manner?
Within moments, the cohort spread out.
Hilda carried me towards the ship. She stepped over the grey, ashen rock lit by a plethora of crystals littering the ceiling. The veil of light poured over us as we marched through the cavern.
Vanesaa, Hildekar, and Yulei quickly phased out of my field of view; they walked over to the closest makeshift house to explore its innards.
Meanwhile-
"It's massive." Elden's comment elicited a collective hum of agreement from the rest of us.
His words rang undeniably true.
The ship, The Canary, could easily be mistaken for a giant's vessel.
With each step we took, it loomed over us larger and larger; it squished us beneath its shadow, beneath the shadow of the ebony wood and sleek grey rock consuming its hull.
Even so, only the stern of the ship was visible, alongside the mizzen's sail, clad in black. The fabric used to construct the sail oozed with a trickle of glistening, ashen-toned ebony.
The Canary's colour scheme remained consistent, hovering between ebony, grey, and white.
In other words-
Black and white.
It only made sense.
"Careful with the scaffolding, scale it with caution. There's no way of knowing whether the wood has held up over the years; it could collapse from under you." Nemora patted the scaffolding surrounding the stern and-
Creak...
-she flipped herself up and onto the scaffolding.
Tapping the makeshift wood beneath her feet, she nodded at us and continued her upward climb.
Hilda decided to strap me onto her back instead. She secured my thighs with her hands and hopped up after Nemora.
Jill, Elden, and Esme followed right after us.
Esme kept close by us in case of an emergency; how cute.
Dashing past the maze-esque scaffolding, we reached the peak within a minute. Standing high above the ground of the cavern, the makeshift houses, wells, and dusty campfires looked minuscule.
Yet, funnily enough, we were just as tiny in comparison to The Canary.
"Jill?"
"Yeah~ Yeah~"
Nemora called Jill up to the front.
Yawning, the young man clenched his fist a couple of times, then reached his hand out towards the railing of the stern.
Pressing his fingers onto the wood-
"...Safe?" Elden asked
-there was no reaction.
"Safe." Jill confirmed.
I was curious, but I set those curiosities aside and focused on the task at hand.
The first to hop onto the ship was Nemora. Holding her hand outwards over the railing, she helped each person onto the stern of the ship.
Hillda stood upon the ebony wooden panelling of The Canary; I took in the immediate surroundings whilst she hoisted me carefully so as not to slip off her back.
It's empty.
Other than the helm of the ship seated at the forefront of the quarterdeck, the remainder of this section of the ship was spacious but empty.
Other than the railing, the pillar of the mast at the centre of the stern, the helm, and two sets of staircases on each side of the ship leading downwards, there was nothing else.
No boxes, no scattered items, no construction tools; zilche.
"Guys, come here. The door to the cabin isn't blocked by the rocks encasing The Canary. You can see it down there." Elden stood in front of the helm, his head leaning over the railing as he pointed down below at the deck.
Moving over to Elden, the group followed his finger, and lo and behold, a door connected to whatever lay below the quarterdeck was visible.
"Oh! That will take us to the general hold! Or the captain's cabin! Or the officer's cabin! Or a hall connecting it all!"
Beside my head, Hilda's excited voice cut through the tension.
"-Um! Not the general hold!" Shyly shaking her head, embarrassed by her 'mistake', Hilda released one of the hands holding my thighs and tapped her chin, "The general hold is usually connected in a hatch at the centre of the deck. So, probably the cabins? Maybe even a doctor's cabin is there?"
Nemora glanced oddly at Hilda, "Why do you know so much?"
"Hehe~ Grandpa taught me!"
"Maybe not." I quipped in.
"Hm?" Nemora cast a questioning look in my direction.
"Considering that this has been built by the Canaries, the belly of The Canary may consist of sections different from the usual parts of a ship. You have to remember, they've been trying to escape, all of them. Would a ship prepared to escape this Crucible of Light be so simple?"
"Dear sister is right. But there's no point in coming up with these ideas when the answers lie beneath our feet. Let's just enter. But keep your guards up, anything can happen in there."
Elden followed with that notion, "Esme isn't wrong, let's just toss Jill into the belly of this beast and figure it out from there."
"...Fuck you."
"Love you too, Jill." Tossing his arm over Jill's shoulder, he pulled him along down the stairs.
Hopping down the steps, he messed with the stoic young man and arrived at the bottom. The rocks encasing the ship sat less than a metre away; the only section of The Canary that was visible was the door connected to the stern of the vessel, below the helm.
Shoving Jill towards the door, "Off you go!" Elden playfully waved at him, but while it did seem like he was tossing his friend to the sharks-
It shone; brightly, vividly, all around Elden's body...
His Manifestation.
A collection of Blessings and Curses encased the young man.
"What is that?" Hilda, while carrying me down the stairs alongside the others, asked Nemora.
"A type of Pillar Armament. Cloak of Verdansk. If you want the details, I don't know them either. All I know is that with his Cloak of Verdansk donned, he can support all that encompasses his point of protection. Only those he truly wants to aid can receive his support."
"Pillar Armament? I didn't expect that from him."
"A Manifestation is the coalescence of your new Blessings and Curses. His initial Awakening developed a different form of power with his first and second Blessings, his third Blessing, as is everyone's, is his Manifestation." Nemora patiently taught the clueless Hilda.
"Never forget, Hilda, don't judge based on looks or perspective; someone who seems fragile and pitiful could hold two Blessings that enhance their strength to an unholy level and a Manifestation that turns their arms into weapons."
Shrugging, "You could, for example, never guess for the life of you what my Manifestation is. That's how unique each and every person's existence is."
I nodded inwardly; she's right, and that's also my weakness. I can't see other people's Manifestations, so if I'm ever in a situation with an unknown opponent that I must face on my own, I'm severely disadvantaged.
Click.
"It's open." Esme nudged Nemora.
Creak...
Jill twisted the door handle and slowly pushed it inwards, revealing a pitch-black corridor leading to the depths of The Canary.
Lining up in front of the door, with our backs to the cavern's wall, the cohort stared at Jill once more; the sacrificial lamb must continue on its perilous journey inwards and onwards!
Into the belly of the beast!
...Ahem, even though I'm the one who led you all here.
Inwardly patting myself on the back in a comforting manner, I watched Jill's scrunched-up face sigh with a grudging look in his eyes.
Scornfully running his gaze across us, he clicked his teeth, rubbed his forehead, relaxed his limbs, then marched inwards into the ship.
Stepping into the darkness-
Crackle!
-a flicker of light burst from his body, filling up the interior of the ship.
The walls lit up with a reflective, ashen-grey hue tinged with ebony; the glimmering walls dove forward with two doors lining both the left and right sides respectively. And, at the very end of the corridor, was a T-shaped junction twisting into both directions.
We'd have to go inside the corridor to check it out.
"Lady's first?" Jill twisted his head towards us while standing just a foot beyond the door's boundary.